Northwest's 'waves' crash over Fairless

Friday

The Indians use a deep rotation and transition baskets to remain undefeated by beating Falcons 75-52 in PAC-7 opener.

CANAL FULTON It's not the first wave that provides the most problems. It's how the waves continue to crash down, one after the other, which causes the damage.

For Northwest's boys basketball team, the first wave is an issue. The rest of them, substitution after substitution, are what can wash over an opponent.

So it was Friday night, as the Indians opened their defense of the PAC-7 championship they won in their inaugural season in the league by overwhelming Fairless 75-52 inside the Northwest High School gym.

"We have some depth this year," said Indians coach Mike Lower, whose team improved to 3-0 overall and 1-0 in the PAC-7. "We want to keep it coming with no letdown. I thought our defensive pressure in the first half really took its toll."

Northwest scored the game's first 10 points, with Trey Miletich tallying seven of his game-high-tying 21 points in the burst. However, Fairless fought back to within 13-6 with three minutes left in the first quarter on a basket by Jack Laney, who also had 21 points.

That's when the Indians waves began to crash over the Falcons.

Starting with a Nick Leeders basket with 2:01 remaining in the first quarter, and ending with a Grant Baughman layup with 5:24 remaining in the first half, Northwest put together a 16-0 run to open up a 29-6 lead. Six different Indians would score over the course of the run, including Luke Fennell scoring four of his 12 points.

The Northwest run was keyed as much by converting missed Fairless shots into quick transition baskets. That, to Falcon acting head coach Steve Sauls, was as much as an issue as anything else.

"I don't know if it's the waves so much as trying to beat them back," said Sauls, who has filled in for head coach Kevin Bille over the Falcons' 1-2 start as Bille deals with a back issue. "You're concentrating on offense, and the next thing you know, the ball is all the way back down the court and they're scoring a layup. It's just tough to get back on them because they make the long passes and they do it very well."

The 16-0 run was the second of three such bursts by Northwest of at least seven unanswered points in the first half. The Indians would put together a 7-0 spurt late in the half - two Leeders baskets as part of his 10-point night, plus an Ethan Hyrne basket as well as a free throw - to open up a 38-10 advantage with 1:54 remaining.

Northwest would lead 43-15 at the break, and was up 46-15 early in the third quarter. Fairless, though, hit four of its eight 3-point baskets in the third quarter to at least outscore the Indians 21-15 over the eight minutes.

To Sauls, that was a goal coming out of the locker room.

"We tried to break the game down into a smaller, winnable part," said Sauls, whose team trailed 58-36 after three. "That was the third quarter. Our goal was just to win one quarter."

The Northwest waves, however, made sure that was the only quarter the Falcons would win. Fairless would get as close as 19 a minute into the fourth quarter, before the Indians put together a 9-0 run to end any thoughts of a Fairless miracle comeback.

Lower believes a key to that was getting back to the unselfish basketball Northwest played over the first two quarters.

"If we remain unselfish and share the basketball, we can be a pretty good team," Lower said. "We've been that way. Hopefully, we stay that way and just make the easy play to the guy that's open and trust the teammates."

Reach Chris at 330-775-1128 or chris.easterling@indeonline.com.

On Twitter: @ceasterlingINDE

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